Low kicks, standing elbows and the ability to hold his own in wild
standup exchanges carried Henderson to a split decision over
Gilbert
Melendez, as he retained his Ultimate Fighting Championship
lightweight crown in a thrilling
UFC on Fox 7 headliner on Saturday at the HP Pavilion in San
Jose, Calif. All three cageside judges scored it 48-47: Derek
Cleary and Michael Bell for Henderson, Wade Vierra for
Melendez.

Afterward, the victorious Henderson dropped to a knee, ring in
hand, and proposed to his girlfriend. She said yes.

“There are a lot bigger things than fighting,” he said, “and I had
to take care of one of those things right now and make sure she is
in my life for the rest of my life.”

According to FightMetric figures, Henderson out-landed the
challenger in terms of significant strikes in all five rounds and
held the edge in total strikes in every round but the second. The
29-year-old MMA Lab representative did the majority of his damage
with step-in standing elbows and kicks to the upper and lower
sections of Melendez’s legs.

Beaten for just the third time as a professional, Melendez appeared
to make his most significant inroads in the first and fifth rounds,
where he pressured the champion with thudding right hands and the
occasional knee to the body. The loss halted the Santa Ana, Calif.,
native’s seven-fight winning streak.

“It was a tough fight,” said Henderson, who improved to a perfect
7-0 in the UFC. “I know how tough that Gilbert is. I love the Skrap
Pack. They bring it every single time.”

Cormier Clinch Suffocates Mir

In the co-main event,
American Kickboxing Academy export Daniel
Cormier executed his game plan to perfection, as he trapped
former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir in a
relentless series of energy-sapping clinches en route to a
one-sided unanimous decision.

All three cageside judges scored it 30-27 for Cormier (12-0, 1-0
UFC), who is believed to be contemplating a move to the 205-pound
division.

Mir (16-7, 14-7 UFC) could not avoid the clinch against the
two-time Olympian. Cormier pinned him along the fence over and over
again, scoring with knees to the body and elbows and punches to the
head. Mir delivered a handful of kicks to the body but failed to
control distance and wandered aimlessly into close quarters. The
33-year-old Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt has suffered
back-to-back defeats for the first time in his professional
career.

Josh
Hedges/Zuffa LLC/UFC

Thomson thumped Diaz and put him away.

Thomson Head Kick, Punches Dispatch Diaz

Former Strikeforce
champion Josh Thomson
became the first man to ever finish Nate Diaz with
strikes, as he stopped “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 winner with
an exquisite head kick and follow-up punches in a featured
lightweight clash. Thomson (20-5, 3-1 UFC) brought it to a close
3:44 into round two, as he returned to the Octagon for the first
time since August 2004.

Diaz (16-9, 11-7 UFC) spent a majority of the bout pursuing his
nimble foe. Thomson leaned on leg kicks, picked his spots with
punches and secured a well-time takedown in the first round. The
damage exacted from the kicks was visible on Diaz’s left knee,
which was grotesquely swollen. Thomson also connected on a head
kick, and though only his foot landed, it served as a precursor for
what was in store for Diaz.

Thomson added standing elbows from the clinch in the second round,
opening multiple cuts on Diaz’s face.

With roughly 90 seconds to go in the frame, he fired another head
kick, and this time, shin met skull. Diaz staggered and back
pedaled, with Thomson closing in. A series of unanswered punches
forced referee Mike Beltran to step in.

Mein (27-9, 1-1 UFC) was in retreat mode from the start, as the
rugged Ohioan stayed in his face with punches, knees, elbows and
kicks, giving him little room to breathe much less work. Still, he
had his chance. Mein folded Brown with a brutal left hook to the
body in the first round and swarmed to finish. Brown defended well,
locked up a tight triangle choke and returned to his feet. Perhaps
weakened by the choke, Mein was never the same.

Brown came out firing in round two, bloodying Mein’s nose with a
series of punches, standing elbows and knees. The 32-year-old
Xenia, Ohio, native grounded Mein with an attempted guillotine
choke and then switched gears, finishing him with a deluge of
elbows to the head, body and back.